AR321-5-SP-CO:
Photography in History
2020/21
Art History and Theory
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Sunday 17 January 2021
Friday 26 March 2021
15
29 July 2020
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA V3R9 Art History with Modern Languages,
BA VR3B Art History with Modern Languages (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad)
The year 1839 saw the birth of photography and the beginning of a revolution in the way people saw themselves, their nations, and their world. In this module, we will explore not only the evolution of the medium over the 175 years since its invention, but also the creation of the field within the discipline of art history.
We will consider photography in relation to the democratisation of portraiture; the development of new scientific methods and systems of surveillance; the photograph's change in status from document to artwork; the tension between photography and modernist art; the shifting definition of photojournalism; and the medium's role in the field of postmodern art.
The aims of this module are:
1. to develop a greater understanding of key developments in the history of European and American photography;
2. to introduce students to issues related to some of the main developments in European and American photograph since its invention;
3. to raise students’ awareness of different methods for analysing the medium of photography and its personal, documentary and artistic uses;
4. to encourage debate about the place of photography in society;
5. to familiarise students with specialised debates in past and recent literature around the interpretation of photographs;
6. to encourage student awareness of different methods of approaching the discipline through analysis of chosen texts;
7. to stimulate students to develop skills in communication through assignments and seminars
By the end of this module the student should have:
a. a greater appreciation and richer understanding of the history of photography;
b. insight into different methods of interpreting photographs and texts based on some knowledge of the appropriate historical and interpretative contexts;
c. experience in subjecting photographs and texts to analysis and interpretation;
d. insight into the different methods of art-historical investigation that have been explored with reference to European and American photography;
e. an ability to discuss the history of photography and to reflect upon this history through assignments and seminars.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
1. define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
2. seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
3. process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
4. compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure;
5. write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
6. be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
7. think 'laterally' and creatively (i.e., to explore interesting connections and possibilities, and to present these clearly rather than as vague hunches);
8. maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position based on feedback;
9. think critically and constructively.
Topics will include:
Introduction: What is a photograph?
The Invention of Photography
Portraits of the Living and the Dead
Science and Surveillance
Photography and Art I
Photography as Document
Photography and Modernism
Photojournalism
Photography and Art II
There will be a two-hour combined lecture and seminar each week.
All teaching events will be accessible to students on and off campus either face-to-face or remotely through online teaching.
Week 21 is reading week.
- Zegher, M. Catherine de; Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Mass.). (c1996) Inside the visible: an elliptical traverse of 20th century art in, of, and from the feminine, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press.
- Gürsel, Zeynep Devrim. (2018-09) 'A Picture of Health: The Search for a Genre to Visualize Care in Late Ottoman Istanbul', in Grey Room. vol. 72, pp.36-67
- Sidlauskas, Susan. (2013-06) 'Inventing the medical portrait: photography at the ‘Benevolent Asylum’ of Holloway, c. 1885–1889', in Medical Humanities. vol. 39 (1) , pp.29-37
- (no date) Vision & Justice.
- Benjamin, Walter; Bullock, Marcus Paul; Jennings, Michael William; Eiland, Howard; Smith, Gary. (1996-2003) Selected writings, Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
- Wells, Liz. (2003) The photography reader, London: Routledge.
- Baudelaire, Charles; Charvet, P. E. (1972) Selected writings on art and artists, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- Sontag, Susan. (2008) On photography, London: Penguin.
- Eder, Josef Maria. (1978) History of photography, New York: Dover Publications.
- Sekula, Allan. (1963-) 'On the Invention of Photographic Meaning', in Artforum, New York: Artforum International Magazine. vol. 13 (5) , pp.36-45
- Bolton, Richard. (1992, c1989) The contest of meaning: critical histories of photography, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
- Godeau, Abigail Solomon. (1984-11-01) 'Winning the Game When the Rules Have Been Changed: Art Photography and Postmodernism', in Screen. vol. 25 (6) , pp.88-103
- Tagg, John. (1988) The burden of representation: essays on photographies and histories, Basingstoke: Macmillan Education.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Quizzes TOTAL |
|
43% |
| Coursework |
2000 word essay |
|
57% |
| Exam |
Main exam: 24hr during Summer (Main Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Natasha Ruiz-Gomez, email: natashar@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Natasha Ruiz-Gómez
spahinfo@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
Prof Richard Simon Clay
Newcastle University
Professor of Digital Cultures
Available via Moodle
Of 259 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
259 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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